Infinite Game Publishing and Piranha Games announce that MechWarrior Online will enter open beta testing on October 16th:

Infinite Game Publishing (IGP) and Piranha Games announced today that MechWarrior Online will go Open Beta on October 16. MechWarrior Online, one of 2012’s most anticipated titles, has been lauded by fans and the games media as the return of true Mech combat. Its successful Founder’s Program will officially end at midnight on October 14. Founder’s members are able to choose tiers of membership and get a head start here: http://mwomercs.com/founders.

“We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to all of the fans over the course of our closed beta period,” said Russ Bullock, president of Piranha Games. “The amazing fans and the high quality feedback given to our team have helped us craft MechWarrior Online into a true MechWarrior gameplay experience. We’re more than excited to open up the game and look forward to continuing to expand the InnerSphere with our loyal fans.”

Set in the year 3049 during the early stages of a massive interstellar war, MechWarrior Online puts you in command of the most powerful war machine to ever walk the field of battle, the mighty BattleMech™. Command your Mech and customize it to suit your battlefield role; upgrade systems, replace weapons, and tweak armor with endless options.

Oh goodie am I allowed to talk about the beta yet? Granted I'm out of the loop- I stopped playing when the black screen bug came out a day or two before Guild Wars 2 and just haven't cared to go back (the black screen bug was a bug where you launched the game and it just went to a black screen and you couldn't interact at all. They left that unpatched for an entire week and I just lost interest). I know they instituted a lot since then, but the maps were tiny, the balance was wacked, and instead of having varied, balanced lances, you'd have flavor of the month mech swarms.

When I quit probably well over half the mech loadouts were pretty much useless. Sad to hear it probably isn't much better.